New Jersey Voting Sites May Not Have Power

A girl holds gas cans while waiting in line at a gas station on November 1, 2012 in Hazlet township, New Jersey.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, whose state suffered extensive flooding and electrical outages from Hurricane Sandy, says he’s not sure whether New Jersey polling sites will have power by Election Day.

“I’d like to have the polling places powered up for next Tuesday,” Mr. Christie told reporters at a Wednesday evening press conference. “I would like that. I’m not yet to the point where I know whether we’re going to be able to do that or we’re not going to be able to do that.”

Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, who also serves as secretary of state overseeing elections, will focus on that in the next two days and come up with a plan in case polling places have no power, he said.

“We’ll be ready for election day one way or the other, and people will have the opportunity to vote in the election, but we’re just going to have to see where we are,” Mr. Christie said.

The governor also made it clear his top priority is providing for people’s basic needs, and he cited a woman who told him she hasn’t had a hot meal in four days. “She’s not thinking about voting at the moment,” Mr. Christie said. “Now maybe by Tuesday she will be. I hope she will. But right now she is not, and I can’t until I solve these other problems.”

New Jersey and New York were the states most devastated by the Hurricane Sandy. Both are leaning strongly Democratic in the presidential race, and the storm is not likely to affect the election results. But officials are concerned that eligible voters are able to vote on Election Day, and states throughout the northeast are determining whether they need to move polling places, extend voting hours or possibly make provisions for replacing electronic voting machines.

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